"What are you not going to do today?" Emma rolled her brown eyes at her mother's first question this early in the morning.
"Seriously, Mother?" she said, leaning her head against her palm as she pushed the egg whites around her plate. Her mother was really starting early today with the nagging.
"Yes, seriously, Emma." Emma rolled her eyes, deciding to play along for now. "Today, I will not punch that prissy Latina, Reina, in the face," she said, popping the eggs into her mouth, a grin on her face, one eyebrow raised.
Her father glared at her from across the table, unimpressed. "Language, young lady."
Emma sighed, playing with the end of her ponytail. Her parents didn't seem interested in her games. "I won't get into fights? I don't know exactly what you want me to say, Mother." This was a complete lie. Her mother was now fully facing her, arms crossed. She squinted her eyes. "You know exactly what I want you to say, Emma."
Emma slammed the fork down against the table, annoyance bubbling up. "What, Mother? I won't breathe? I won't think for myself? I won't have fun? I won't live? What, Mother, what?!" Emma stood from the table, banging her hands against it.
Her father stood, dropping his newspaper to the table, glaring at her. "You will mind your mother, Emma! I don't know what has gotten into you, but you better get it together, do you understand!" he yelled, the vein in his neck popping, making Emma shake slightly with fear before she slowly sat back down.
Her mother grinned smugly as her father slowly sat down. "Now, Emma, what are you not going to do again?"
Emma looked at her plate blankly, wishing she was anywhere else but here, wishing she could just live the way she wanted. "I'm not going to talk to Blake," she whispered.
Her mom patted the top of her head like an obedient dog. "Good girl." Emma kept her mouth sealed shut until breakfast was over.
****
Somehow, she made it the whole day without running into Blake. If she saw him in the hall, she would turn around. If they were in the same class, she would sit as far away from him as possible. Of course, he tried to approach her, but she simply ignored him.
Now it was lunch, and she was sitting at her usual seat, chewing on a carrot stick, when he walked in front of her, slamming his lunch tray down on the table. He sat down, his bookbag still on his back. He was obviously fed up with her behavior, which she thought was understandable.
"What's with the sudden change in personality, Emma? I thought we were cool." she turned her head to the side, looking out the window. She had planned to ignore him all day, but they were friends; he deserved some type of explanation for the way she was acting.
"We can't talk anymore, Lake. My parents hate you, and your parents... well, did your dad not tell you what went down yesterday?" she whispered, surely his dad would have told him about her dysfunctional family.
He let out a fake laugh. "Yeah, he told me your parents are absolutely nuts. But that shouldn't affect us, right?"
She glanced up at him, meeting his eyes before looking around nervously. "You don't understand. My parents are friends with faculty in this school. All it would take is one call to them from one of our teachers, and I'll be locked in my room for the rest of my life!" she exclaimed in a soft whisper before picking up her tray, unable to look at him anymore. "It's better if we don't talk anymore. I'll just tutor Alex, and that's it."
He watched her, feeling slightly hurt, but why should he? They barely knew each other. He stood, feeling like the whole cafeteria was watching them. "Emma..."
She shook her head, taking a step back. "It's better this way. You have your world... and I have mine." She looked to the side as he made his way around to her side of the table.
"Aww, the geek and the freak. What's the matter, trouble in paradise?" Reina asked as she walked past with her little clones. Her hair was now shoulder-length; Emma guessed she couldn't get the gum out of her hair yesterday and decided to cut it.
Emma ground her teeth before throwing her tray of food away, suddenly not hungry. "Oh, go suck a hot dog, Reina!" she snapped before stalking out of the cafeteria, hoping Blake didn't follow her.
She walked to the outside lounge area, sitting on the bench and taking a breath of fresh air. She heard footsteps stop behind her.
"Do you really not want to hang out anymore? I mean, I get it, your parents hate my guts, and I'm pretty much used to that, but... honestly, I don't absolutely hate your guts like I do with most people in this school," Emma heard Blake say behind her as he walked around and sat beside her.
She let out a little laugh, looking into his beautiful eyes before quickly looking down. "If it was up to me, we would still be friends, but I really don't want to go against my mother or father. I'm... I'm sorry." For some unknown reason, a tear rolled down her cheek. She just felt so trapped, like she couldn't be herself, like she couldn't make her own choices.
He slowly lifted his rough, ring-covered fingers, wiping away the tear. "I hate to see a pretty girl cry. If this is really what you want... I'll go... Oh, and here." He stood, pulling something out of his bag and setting it beside her before marching back inside.
She finally looked up again, seeing her once-dirty shirt, now clean and nicely folded, on the spot beside her. As he walked away, why did it feel as if he was walking out of her life forever...? Probably because he was.
YOU ARE READING
It Started With Hello
Romance***** Emma Pear knew she wasn't the most popular girl in high school. Her nose was usually buried in a textbook, and her grades were as spotless as her reputation for always following the rules. "Nerd" was a label she'd long since embraced. Her pare...
